curacy, fulness, and perfpicuity, which we have not met with in any other writer. The paffage being too long for infertion, we fhall only mention that the Carlovingian race were invefted by the Popes with the dignities of King of France, and of Patrician of Rome. The feeble Childeric, the last defcendant of Clovis, was degraded, shaved, and immured in a convent for the remainder of his days. The royal unction of the Kings of Ifrael was dexterously applied in confecrating the title of Pepin; a German chieftain was transformed into the Lord's Anointed; the Franks were abfolved from their ancient oath; and a dire anathema was thundered against them, and their pofterity, if they should dare to renew the fame freedom of choice, or to elec a King, except in the holy and meritorious race of the Carlovingian princes. In confequence of the dignity of Patrician, these princes were prefented with the keys of the fhrine of St. Peter, as a pledge and symbol of fovereignty, and with a holy banner, which it was their right and duty to unfurl in defence of the church and city. Charlemagne, having conquered the Lombards, was received by the Romans as a faviour and a mafter. The people fwore allegiance to his perfon and family; in his name money was coined, and juftice was administered; the election of the Popes was examined and confirmed by his authority; and except an original, and felf-inherent claim of fovereignty, there was not any prerogative remaining, which the title of Emperor could add to the Patrician of Rome. The Carlovingians were not ungrateful for thefe obligations. The farms and houses, which formed the ancient patrimony of the church, were extended into the temporal dominion of cities and provinces; and the donation of the exarchate to the Pope was the first fruits of the conqueft of Pepin.' The fplendid gift was granted in fupreme and abfolute dominion; and the world beheld for the first time a Chriftian Bishop invefted with the wealth and prerogatives of a temporal prince. Not fatisfied with this ample jurifdiction, fome apoftolical fcribe compofed, before the end of the eighth century, the decretals and the donation of Conftantine. The first of the Chriftian Emperors, according to the legend, being healed of the leprofy by St. Sylvefter, the Roman Bishop, declared his refolution of founding a new capital in the Eaft, and refigned to the Popes the free and perpetual fovereignty of Rome, Italy, and the provinces of the Weft. This fiction was received by the ignorance and credulity of the times, and though univerfally rejected after the revival of letters, by the contempt of hiftorians and poets, it is fill enrolled among the decrees of the Canon law. The Popes themfelves, fays Mr. G. have indulged a fmile at the credulity of the vulgar; but a falfe and obfolete title still fan&ifies their reign; and by the fame fortune which has attended the decretals and the Sibylline oracles,

the

the edifice has fubfifted, after the foundations have been under mined.

In the three following chapters (the 50th, 51ft, and 52d), Mr. G. gives an account of the Arabians, or Saracens, whofe valour and enthusiasm had fo great a share in the deftruction of the Eaftern empire. This interefting part of his hiftory opens with an animated defcription of Arabia, with its inhabitants; which is followed by an account of the birth, character, and doctrine of Mahomet, the voluntary or reluctant fubmission of the Arabs to his authority-his death, and fucceffors. Mr. G. then pursues the victories and conquefts of thefe fucceffors, through Perfia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, and Spain; and having defcribed the empire of the Caliphs, in its full extent and greateft fplendor, he unfolds the caufes which led to its decline and diffolution their unfuccefsful fieges of Conftantinople, their invafion of France, and defeat by Charles Martel, the civil wars of the Ommiades and Abbaffides, and the luxury of the Caliphs, which at the fame time that it proved ufelefs to their private happiness, relaxed the nerves, and terminated the progrefs, of the Arabian power.

A ray of light beams from the darkness of the tenth century; and Mr. G. availing himself of the labours of Conftantine Porphyrogenitus, ventures to defcribe, in his 53d chapter, the ftate of the capital and provinces in that age, when the remnant of the empire ftill exceeded the measure of the largest of the European kingdoms.

The fame princes (viz. the Greek Emperors) might affert, with dignity and truth, that of all the monarchs of Christendom they poffeffed the greatest city, the moft ample revenue, the most flourishing and populous state. With the decline and fall of the empire, the cities of the Weft had decayed and fallen; nor could the ruins of Rome, or the mud walls, wooden hovels, and narrow precincts of Paris and London, prepare the Latin ftranger to contemplate the fituation and extent of Conftantinople, her ftately palaces and churches, and the arts and luxury of an innumerable people. Her treasures might attract, but her virgin ftrength had repelled, and ftill promised to repel, the audacious invafion of the Perfian and Bulgarian, the Arab and the Ruffian. The provinces were lefs fortunate and impregnable; and few diftricts, few cities, could be difcovered which had not been violated by fome fierce Barbarian, impatient to defpoil, because he was hopeless to poffefs. From the age of Juftinian the Eaftern empire was finking below its former level s the powers of deftruction were more active than those of improvement; and the calamities of war were embittered by the more permanent evils of civil and ecclefiaftical tyranny. The captive who had escaped from the Barbarians was often ftripped and imprisoned by the minifters of his fovereign: the Greek fuperftition relaxed the mind by prayer, and emaciated the body by fafting; and the multitude of convents and festivals diverted many hands and many days

from

from the temporal fervice of mankind. Yet the fubjects of the Byzantine empire were ftill the most dexterous and diligent of nations; their country was bleffed by nature with every advantage of foil, climate, and fituation; and, in the support and restoration of the arts, their patient and peaceful temper was more useful than the warlike fpirit and feudal anarchy of Europe. The provinces that still adhered to the empire were repeopled and enriched by the misfortunes of those which were irrevocably loft. From the yoke of the Caliphs, the Catholics of Syria, Egypt, and Africa, retired to the allegiance of their prince, to the fociety of their brethren: the moveable wealth, which eludes the fearch of oppreffion, accompanied and alleviated their exile; and Conftantinople received into her bofom the fugitive trade of Alexandria and Tyre. The chiefs of Armenia and Scythia, who fled from hoftile or religious perfecution, were hofpitably entertained: their followers were encouraged to build new cities and to cultivate waste lands; and many spots, both in Europe and Afia, preferved the name, the manners, or at leaft the memory, of thefe national colonies. Even the tribes of Barbarians, who had feated themselves in arms on the territory of the empire, were gradually reclaimed to the laws of the church and state; and as long as they were feparated from the Greeks, their pofterity fupplied a race of faithful and obedient foldiers. Did we poffefs fufficient materials to furvey the twenty-nine themes of the Byzantine monarchy, our curiofity might be fatisfied with a chofen example: it is fortunate enough that the clearest light fhould be thrown on the most interesting province; and the name of PELOPONESUS will awaken the attention of the claffic reader.'

Mr. Gibbon's defcription of the state of the Peloponefus is too long for infertion; but one paragraph, refpecting manufactures, efpecially that of filk, is fo curious, that we cannot refufe it a place:

But the wealth of the province, and the truft of the revenue, were founded on the fair and plentiful produce of trade and manufactures: and fome fymptoms of liberal policy may be traced in a law which exempts from all perfonal taxes the mariners of Peloponefus, and the workmen in parchment and purple. This denomination may be fairly applied or extended to the manufactures of linen, woollen, and more especially of filk: the two former of which had flourished in Greece fince the days of Homer; and the last was introduced perhaps as early as the reign of Juftinian. These arts, which were exercised at Corinth, Thebes, and Argos, afforded food and occupation to a numerous people: the men, women, and children, were diftributed according to their age and ftrength; and if many of these were domeftic flaves, their mafters, who directed the work and enjoyed the profit, were of a free and honourable condition. The gifts which a rich and generous matron of Peloponefus prefented to the Emperor Bafil, her adopted fon, were doubtlefs fabricated in the Grecian looms. Danielis beftowed a carpet of fine wool, of a pattern which imitated the fpots of a peacock's tail, of a magnitude to overspread the floor of a new church, erected in the triple name of Chrift, of Michael the archangel, and of the prophet Elijah. She gave fix hundred pieces of filk and linen, of various ufe and denomination: the filk was painted with the Tyrian dye, and adorned

adorned by the labours of the needle; and the linen was fo exqui fitely fine, that an entire piece might be rolled in the hollow of a In his description of the Greek manufactures, an historian of Sicily difcriminates their price, according to the weight and quality of the filk, the clofenefs of the texture, the beauty of the colours, and the taste and materials of the embroidery. A fingle, or even a double or treble thread was thought fufficient for ordinary fale; but the union of fix threads compofed a piece of ftronger and more coftly workmanship. Among the colours, he celebrates, with affectation of eloquence, the fiery blaze of the fcarlet, and the fofter luftre of the green. The embroidery was raifed either in filk or gold: the more fimple ornament of fripes or circles was furpaffed by the nicer imitation of flowers: the vestments that were fabricated for the palace or the altar often glittered with precious ftones; and the figures were delineated in ftrings of Oriental pearls. Till the twelfth century, Greece alone, of all the countries of Chriftendom, was poffeffed of the infect who is taught by nature, and of the workmen who are inftructed by art, to prepare this elegant luxury. But the fecret had been ftolen by the dexterity and diligence of the Arabs: the Caliphs of the Eaft and Weft fcorned to borrow from the unbelievers their furniture and apparel; and two cities of Spain, Almeria and Lisbon, were famous for the manufacture, the ufe, and perhaps the exportation, of filk. It was first introduced into Sicily by the Normans; and this emigration of trade diftinguishes the victory of Roger from the uniform and fruitlefs hoftilities of every age. After the fack of Corinth, Athens, and Thebes, his lieutenant embarked with a captive train of weavers and artificers of both fexes, a trophy glorious to their mafter, and difgraceful to the Greek Emperor. The King of Sicily was not infenible of the value of the prefent; and in the reftitution of the prifoners, he excepted only the male and female manufacturers of Thebes and Corinth, who labour, fays the Byzantine hiftorian, under a barbarous lord, like the old Eretrians in the fervice of Darius. A ftately edifice, in the palace of Palermo, was erected for the ufe of this induftrious colony; and the art was propagated by their children and difciples to fatisfy the encreafing demand of the western world. The decay of the looms of Sicily may be ascribed to the troubles of the island, and the competition of the Italian cities. In the year thirteen hundred and fourteen, Lucca alone, among her fifter republics, enjoyed the lucrative monopoly. A domeftic revolution difperfed the manufacturers to Florence, Bologna, Venice, Milan, and even the countries beyond the Alps; and thirteen years after this event, the ftatutes of Modena enjoin the planting of mulberry-trees, and regulate the duties on raw filk. The northern climates are lefs propitious to the education of the filk-worm; but the induftry of France and England is fupplied and enriched by the productions of Italy and China.'

From manufactures, Mr. G. naturally proceeds to the revenue of the Greek empire, which, if it amounted to feven millions fterling, must have far exceeded the incomes of the richest modern kingdoms, confidering the relative values of the precious metals in the 10th and the 18th centuries. He next examines

the

the pomp and magnificence of the Emperors, the offices of the palace, the ftate, and the army, the ceremonial of the court, and the proud fuperiority which the Greek princes affected over the other potentates of the earth. He then compares the Greeks with the Saracens and the Franks; fince, from the age of Charlemagne to that of the Crufades, the world was occupied and difputed by these three rival nations. Their refpective military ftrength, he obferves, may be afcertained by a comparison of their courage, their arts and riches, and their obedience to a fupreme head, who might call into action all the energies of the ftate. The Greeks, far inferior to their rivals in the first, were fuperior to the Franks, and at leaft equal to the Saracens, in the fecond and third of thefe warlike qualifications. The reader will be glad to find an account of the tactics and character of these great nations, an account fo comprehenfive and fo concife, that it is incapable of abridgment.

• The invention of the Greek fire did not, like that of gunpowder, produce a total revolution in the art of war. To thefe liquid combuftibles, the city and empire of Conftantine owed their deliverance; and they were employed in fieges and fea-fights with terrible effect. But they were either lefs improved, or lefs fufceptible of im provement; the engines of antiquity, the catapultæ, baliftæ, and battering-rams, were fill of moft frequent and powerful ufe in the attack and defence of fortifications; nor was the decifion of battles reduced to the quick and heavy fire of a line of infantry, whom it were fruitlefs to protect with armour against a fimilar fire of their enemies. Steel and iron were fill the common intruments of deftruction and fafety; and the helmets, cuiraffes, and fhields, of the tenth century did not, either in form or fubitance, effentially differ from those which had covered the companions of Alexander or Achilles. But instead of accuftoming the modern Grecks, like the legionaries of old, to the conftant and eafy ufe of this falutary weight; their armour was laid afide in light chariots, which followed the march, till, on the approach of an enemy, they refumed with hatte and reluctance the unufual incumbrance. Their offenfive weapons confifted of swords, battle-axes, and fpears; but the Macedonian pike was shortened a fourth of its length, and reduced to the more convenient measure of twelve cubits or feet. The fharpnets of the Scythian and Arabian arrows had been feverely felt; and the Emperors lament the decay of archery as a caufe of the public misfortunes, and recommend, as an advice, and a command, that the military youth, till the age of forty, fhould affiduously practife the exercife of the bow. The bands, or regiments, were ufually three hundred strong; and, as a medium between the extremes of four and fixteen, the foot foldiers of Leo and Conftantine were formed eight, deep; but the cavalry charged in four ranks from the reafonable confideration, that the weight of the front could not be increafed by any preffure of the hindmoft horfes. If the ranks of the infantry or cavalry were fometimes doubled, this cautious array betrayed a fecret diftruft of the courage of the troops, whofe numbers might fwell the appearance of Rev. Aug. 1788.

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the